1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to an electrical connector attachable to an electrical conductor wire at a conductive end portion of the wire and insertable partially through a hole defined through a board after attachment of the connector to the wire and more particularly is concerned with an electrical connector attachable to an insulated electrical conductor wire, the wire having both a bared conductive end portion and an insulated marginal end portion adjacent to the bared end portion, the connector being insertable partially through a hole defined through a printed circuit board after attachment of the connector to the wire for retaining the bared end portion of the wire in a desired predetermined position between the sidewalls of the hole and substantially below the top surface of the board prior to the formation of an electrical solder connection between the bared end porof the wire and an electrical conductor formed on the bottom surface of the board.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
It is common practice, in the art of manufacturing printed circuit boards, to provide holes in the boards for the reception of electrical conductor wires or electrical connectors attached to conductor wires leading from other electrical components which are desired to be electrically connected to conductors formed on the board. The conductor wires or the connectors attached thereto are then soldered to the conductors on the underside of the board to form the electrical connections between the conductors and the wires.
Various means for retaining the conductor wire within or adjacent to the hole formed through a printed circuit board are known in the prior art.
One commonly used means is a metallic liner which is inserted into the hole and has the capability of retaining the conductor wire therein, for example, the liner described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,369 which is assigned to AMP Incorporated of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Another commonly used means is an electrical connector attachable to the conductor wire prior to its insertion into the printed circuit board hole which is manufactured and sold by AMP Incorporated under the trademark AMP-IN. This connector is described and illustrated in a publication entitled "AMP-IN* and AMP-EDGE* TERMINALS FOR PRINTED CIRCUIT APPLICATIONS" and designated as Folder 938, Revised 8-67, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto. A disadvantage of the AMP-IN connector in certain applications is that when the connector is inserted into the printed circuit board hole, the end of the conductor wire is disposed by the connector at a position spaced above the top surface of the board. Thus, only an indirect electrical connection between the end of the conductor wire and the conductor on the bottom surface of the board is possible by soldering together the conductor on the board and the pin tip portion of the connector which projects below the top surface of the board. Furthermore, the substantial height of this connector above the top surface of the board is undesirable in certain applications where available space is limited such as where several boards are to be disposed in side-by-side parallel relationships and as close to each other as is possible.
A further commonly used means is another electrical connector also attachable to the conductor wire prior to its insertion into printed circuit board hole which is manufactured and sold by AMP Incorporated under the trademark CIRCUITIP. This connector is described and illustrated in a publication entitled "AMP CIRCUITIP* TERMINALS" and designated as Folder No. 475, Reprinted 12-68, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto. This electrical connector is also described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,076,164 and 3,230,612 assigned to AMP Incorporated. While the CIRCUITIP connector does overcome the disadvantages referred to above in regard to the AMP-IN connector, both of these connectors have retention features which do not fully insure against accidental dislodgment of the connector from the hole prior to the soldering operation.